As you know Eva and I love reading books, we’ve even made a bunch of videos together of our reading adventures. Well, we’re now reading together on my iPad. We’re reading saw story of one really great classic character, Nancy Drew. But, it is not just a story it is actually an app with much more to do than simply read. The app is part choose your own adventure and part, word scramble but all great Nancy Drew mystery.

The app, Nancy Drew Mobile Mysteries®, is a story of Nancy Drew at a dude ranch in Arizona. She’s there with her friends George and Bess (cousins). The ranch is in hard times because a bigger ranch that is owned by some rich guy is trying to push them out. Strange things keep happening at the ranch and Nancy Drew is on the case to discover what is going on.

However, here is the twist. You can help Nancy Drew by making choices at various points in the story. You also pick up certain collectibles if you can take words and make other words from them. There are also bonus brain teasers mysteries that you unlock by earning 10 collectibles a chapter. You can also search for items and collect them by tapping the screen. Eva liked the collectibles and the collection screens.

reading the Nancy Drew app has become a special time for Eva and I. We have read four of the chapters so far and now when I return home from work she wants to read more with me. While she is only three and cannot read yet herself she can identify letters so I have Eva click the letters when we are making words from the “collectibles” that we find in the story. She clicks the letter and then I tell her what word she has just created. This is a great part of the app that even a three year old can understand and enjoy, great for letter identification.

I’m really impressed with Nancy Drew Mobile Mysteries®. I wasn’t sure how much fun it would be for Eva but once we got into it she was thrilled. I hope that reading this app will encourage Eva to develop a love for Nancy Drew, something she will share with her mother and Memere. We’ve gotten hours of entertainment out of the app so far and we are only halfway through the story.

Disclosure: I was given a download code from Her Interactive to get the app for my iPad. The opinions about the Nancy Drew Mobile Mysteries® are 100% mine.

Here is the official description of the iTunes Connect Product Description:
Nancy Drew Mobile Mysteries®: Shadow Ranch
Introducing a Story-based Gamebook Series for the iPad™/iPhone®/iPod Touch®!

PLAY THE STORY!™
Bring the Nancy Drew experience to life in this first installment of the story-based gamebook series for your iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. As you navigate the mysterious events at Shadow Ranch, you’ll soon find yourself in a world of long lost treasure, phantom horses, rough and tumble cowboys and fearsome creatures of the wild desert. Shadow Ranch is an interactive adventure where you choose your own path and solve mysteries and puzzles both big and small. As you navigate the cryptic events at Shadow Ranch, it’s up to you to solve the case before its owners are forced to ride off into the sunset.

In Shadow Ranch, Nancy is off to Arizona and the rustic homestead run by Bess and George’s Aunt and Uncle. But when she arrives, she quickly discovers that Shadow Ranch hides a darker past. Legend has it that notorious outlaw Dirk Valentine’s faithful ghost horse has been haunting Shadow Ranch, forever cursing all those unlucky enough to witness its eerie presence. A recent rash of ghost sightings and a series of accidents have been driving customers away from Shadow Ranch in droves. With business at a standstill, it’s only a matter of time before the ranch closes its doors for good. As Nancy, George and Bess piece together the mysterious events at Shadow Ranch, they have one shot to discover the secret of Dirk Valentine’s ghost before it’s too late. Play the Story!™